Former AL Secretary-General Amr Moussa tested positive for COVID-19

CAIRO – 2 January 2021: Former Arab League (AL) secretary-general and foreign minister Amr Moussa was tested positive for coronavirus (COVID-19), according to a statement from his office on Saturday.

 

Moussa (84 years) is home isolated and his condition is stable so far, the statement said, adding that he is receiving treatment under the supervision of a number of doctors.

 

He expressed his gratitude to all friends and everyone who wished him a speedy recovery, the statement said.

 

According to a statement released by the Health Ministry said Friday that 1,409 new coronavirus cases were detected, upping the total number of confirmed cases to 139,471.

 

The Spokesman for the Health Ministry said 56 patients have died from the virus over the past 24 hours, raising the death toll to 7,687.

 

As many as 721 patients were discharged from isolation hospitals after receiving necessary medical care, taking the number of recovered cases to 112,826 so far, the spokesman said.

 

Cabinet’s spokesman Nader Saad said on January 1. that Egypt is negotiating with the American Pfizer and the British-Swedish AstraZeneca to obtain batches of coronavirus vaccine.

 

He added that Egypt will obtain vaccine doses from the two companies, in addition to those of China’s Sinopharm, by the end of the negotiations.

 

This comes as the World Health Organization on Thursday has granted emergency validation to BioNTech-Pfizer's COVID-19 vaccine, according to a statement by WHO on Thursday.

 

Thus, it becomes the first coronavirus vaccine to receive such approval from WHO.

 

Egypt in December received its first batch of doses of a vaccine developed by Sinopharm, containing 50,000 doses. The batch arrived at the Cairo International Airport, coming from the UAE.